Garza foils Orioles again

Orioles manager Dave Trembley said that his starter "dominated the game with strikes." Pitching coach Rick Kranitz described the performance as "Maddux-esque," and "really special."

And the man they spoke of, right-hander Koji Uehara, who is seemingly getting better every time he takes the mound, exited Tropicana Field on Tuesday night with a loss.

The Orioles had just one more hit (four) than they had errors, the reason a strong performance from Uehara was wasted in a 6-3 defeat to the Tampa Bay Rays in front of an announced crowd of 13,174 at Tropicana Field. The loss ended their road trip with a 1-4 record.

"It's a bad feeling for a guy to throw the ball that well and come out on the wrong end," said second baseman Brian Roberts, who hit a two-run homer in the third inning, though the Orioles would do very little else against Rays starter Matt Garza. "With the way he was rolling, I didn't think they were going to get a hit for a while."

The Rays, who salvaged a two-game split in the series, eventually strung together a couple of well-placed -- though not well-struck -- hits, scoring twice against Uehara in the sixth inning to tie the game. They put three more runs up in the seventh to take a commanding lead.

B.J. Upton broke the tie and ended a career-long 0-for-20 slump with a two-out RBI double in the seventh on what Uehara called his "best pitch at that moment." Evan Longoria, whose bloop double just inside the right-field line in the sixth inning tied the game, hit a two-run single off Orioles reliever Bob McCrory to break the game open.

Uehara, who has now lost three straight decisions but pitched well in each, surrendered three earned runs on seven hits, while striking out a career-high eight over 6 2/3 innings. But if you asked the Orioles, those numbers don't come close to capturing how well he pitched.

"I don't think he could do any more than he did," Trembley said.

Said Kranitz: "I've seen that type of performance before but it's usually with the best. That was as good of command of three pitches as you'll see."

All Uehara needed was a little support, both offensively and defensively. Garza held the Orioles to four hits and retired 11 of 12 hitters following Gregg Zaun's solo homer in the sixth that gave the visitors a 3-1 lead. He was removed after Adam Jones' leadoff double in the ninth, improving to 6-0 with a 2.28 ERA in seven career starts versus the Orioles.

Jones also figured prominently in Tampa Bay's first run. After a one-out single in the first, Carl Crawford stole second, went to third when Zaun's throw rolled into center field, and then scored when Jones throw to third sailed over Melvin Mora's head. "I don't know why the hell I threw it," Jones said.

The Rays' game-tying, two-run sixth inning, started when Mora had Gabe Kapler's hard grounder go through his legs. Asked if he felt let down by his defense, Uehara said through translator Jiwon Bang: "I don't think it has much to do with the defense. It's about my pitching."

In between Crawford scoring on the two errors and Mora's misplay, Uehara retired 15 straight Rays. He struck out the side in the fourth, fanning Crawford, Longoria and Carlos Pena on just 11 pitches. By the end of the fourth inning, he had thrown only 40 pitches, 34 for strikes. For the game, 72 of his 92 pitches were strikes.

"He had us baffled for six innings," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "He's an artist."

Uehara would have settled for being called the winning pitcher.

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